News of the day: Merz, Söder, Trump - the hit parade of popular politics

1.

Listen to Iron Maiden, maybe

Excuse me, an earwig is

about to

: "Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby."

Hardly anyone could miss the song who approached a car radio or a provincial discotheque at the beginning of the millennium.

The track was even found on some early iPods, as I can tell from my own hearing.

The catchy tune has tormented me again since I read a "Rolling Stone" report: According to this, singer and composer Brendan Brown spends a large part of his time re-recording the song, all instruments, all voices, all noises, everything.

He is the only one left of the original line-up of the band Wheatus,

.

Unfortunately, nobody knows where the master tapes (for connoisseurs: recorded in ADAT format) went.

Brown says the Sony record company messed her up.

"For a musician whose income largely depends on a particular song, that's a problem," the article says.

Icon: enlarge

Which has almost nothing to do with the picture: The song "Teenage Dirtback" was also part of the soundtrack of a film with the title "Loser".

Photo: Peter Steffen / dpa

To re-record a hit from the year 2000 and not always hit the right note?

This brings us to

one of three candidates for the CDU chairmanship.

According to a recent SPIEGEL survey, he is even ahead, but his lead is melting.

(However, it is not the survey participants who decide, but the delegates at the CDU party congress in winter - read here how that could work.)

Our columnist Nikolaus Blome comments on the candidate's latest statements, which brought homosexuality and child abuse into a fairly direct connection:

. You hold your breath Tighten your shoulders. Then either it's just okay. Or it rattles. "

According to Blome, Merz lacks a "conservative primal virtue": the ability to articulate his discomfort in one piece of progress without offending progressives.

Today Merz met his opponents Laschet and Röttgen at the CDU headquarters.

Still-party leader Kramp-Karrenbauer appealed to the fairness of the three to prevent a "ruinous competition".

Does it help?

My colleague Florian Gathmann says: "I have my doubts whether there will be any point in talking to the three of them; they usually think they know everything better."

At least one could agree on the choice of weapons: on several

Perhaps Merz will be able to avoid a rear-end collision there.

After all, the thing with the moped has long been forgotten.

Almost.

• Read the whole column here: There is a right to be backward

• And here you can read about a meeting between my colleague Veit Medick and Merz: Friedrich Feuerstein, the Stone Age man?

2.

Songs of the Free World

Playing a song over and over and making it a hit

- a tried and tested practice on many radio and music stations.

If a song makes it into the

, it can be heard from the speakers up to thirty times a week.

At some point everyone knows it.

Icon: enlarge

Plattenwitz: Does he know the difference between 33 and 45?

Photo: 

Chris Carlson / Getty Images

For the frequency with which Donald Trump is questioning the integrity of the US elections,

"heavy hot rotation" would be an understatement.

Regardless of whether details about his business practices and tax tricks become public - the US president just keeps playing his election campaign hits.

His playlist looks something like this: 

• The election will be the greatest political hoax in history.

• Large postal votes would be a disaster.

• Postal votes lead to fraud.

• A shame for our country.

• We need a result on election night.

Trump spits out such and similar tweets and quotes as if someone was holding down "Shuffle" and "Repeat" on him.

My colleague Ralf Neukirch explains why he is doing this:

reports.

"The polls have seen his democratic opponent Joe Biden stable for weeks, even in important swing states."

(Read more about Biden's chances here.)

He desperately wants to stay in power.

The chances that he will succeed with his chaos strategy are not so bad.

• Read the full analysis here: Announced Fraud

3.

Mute to the gap

The Bavarian Prime Minister decided this morning for the opposite of the "Heavy Hot Rotation":

and unceremoniously canceled an arranged morning interview with Deutschlandfunk.

Icon: enlarge

I said something later

Photo: Frank Hoermann / Sven Simon / imago images

"You don't even know him like that," comments my colleague Stefan Kuzmany.

"Generally, the CSU boss has the first word quickly, preferably the last, and in between a few."

But

Söder has nothing to gain

in the

(more on this here): As Prime Minister he has to keep nuclear waste away from Bavaria if he doesn't want any trouble.

As a representative of Bavarian interests, however, he cannot become a candidate for chancellor.

• Read the whole comment here: Söder in a dilemma

What else is important today

• Merkel fears a sharp increase in the number of infections:

  According to SPIEGEL information, Chancellor Merkel has expressed her concern about the development of the corona epidemic in Germany.

  In the CDU presidium, she warned of "19,200 infections a day" at Christmas.

• Heavy artillery fire, dead and injured:

  Videos from the Azerbaijani armed forces are said to show the destruction of Armenian tanks.

  Both countries have declared a state of war - and hope for outside support.

• "I am very grateful to Merkel":

  Alexej Navalny reports on a "private meeting" with the Chancellor in the hospital.

  The Kremlin critic's chief of staff says the Chancellor keeps keeping herself informed about the 44-year-old's recovery.

My favorite song today: "Someone like you" by Adele

Today is the last day of bento,

our young magazine.

As of tomorrow, the website and app will no longer be updated.

Young readers will then find SPIEGEL Start with us, the new offer for all questions about training, studies and career entry.

A farewell, a new beginning.

The bento bosses, my colleagues Viktoria Bolmer and Julia Rieke, say goodbye to their readers like this:

"We had a fantastic time with you - and hopefully you with us. Thanks to you, we became aware of many topics in the first place and were able to get to know many exciting protagonists with the growing bento community. Without you, bento would not have been bento."

(The full text can be found

As a colleague, I think of the whole bento team today: Yes, we had a fantastic time with you.

Thank you!

On you!

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• "I can in no way agree with the verdict 'remarkable'":

  After the plagiarism affair, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg wrote a second dissertation.

  The economic historian Markus A. Denzel from the University of Leipzig has now read the work.

• "Atomic energy is clean energy":

  Rafael Grossi supports the Saudi Arabian plans to build a nuclear power plant.

  How does he see developments in other countries?

• Voting with a click - is that the future of the federal election ?:

  The corona pandemic is driving digitalization forward in all areas.

  Also in politics?

  Estonia shows how I-voting works.

• The ten commandments of Adele Spitzeder:

  A failed actress built a gigantic pyramid scheme from 1869 to rip off the people of Munich.

  Who was the woman?

Which is not so important today

To be on the safe side, this is not the nude photo.

Photo: Jon Kopaloff / AFP

• Act of joy:

  Actress

  Gwyneth Paltrow

  , 48, posted a nude photo of herself on Instagram for her birthday.

  Did she want to give her fans a present?

  The mention of their own cosmetics line in the text accompanying the picture and the promotion of a "body butter" suggest other reasons for the skin couture show.

  She herself announced: "Wear nothing today but my birthday suit."

  Her daughter replied, indignant or admiring that could not be found out, in capital letters: "MOM!"

Typo of the day

, now corrected: "Conflict with Azerbaijan: Armenia accuses Turkey of sending 4,000 fighters from Syria"

Cartoon of the day: give it a

try!

Icon: enlarge Photo: plassmann / Thomas Plaßmann

And tonight?

Icon: enlarge

Ex-spokesman Lürth - meanwhile dismissed without notice.

Photo: Soeren Stache / dpa

You could

watch

an

, it is on Pro Sieben at 8:15 p.m. tonight.

Particularly disturbing, if perhaps not surprising, are some quotes from an AfD official.

He says in the film about migrants:

"We can still shoot them all afterwards. That's not an issue at all. Or gass them, or whatever you want. I don't care!"

It was filmed under cover, now the "Zeit" reported which AfD man it was: Christian Lüth, the former spokesman for the parliamentary group.

(Read more about it here.)

With that in mind: watch public rights on commercial television.

Have a nice evening, see you tomorrow.

Heartily

Yours Oliver Trenkamp

Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.